


Grrr!<3

by TK_DuVeraun



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Inspired by Art, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 12:51:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21054713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TK_DuVeraun/pseuds/TK_DuVeraun
Summary: Felix is a travelling mercenary who finds something other than respite in the forest.





	Grrr!<3

**Author's Note:**

> [Inspired by this art on twitter by @_dianxiaa](https://twitter.com/_dianxiaa/status/1184098291174129664?s=21)

An owl took flight as Felix dragged his body through the undergrowth. One leg was numb, but stiff and the other dripped blood from an arrow lodged in his calf. Rogue knights were worse than bandits. They had their lord’s training and equipment turned to foul use rather than just what they could steal with brute strength. The dastards had stiffed him on his reward and then tried to kill him for his trouble. Well, those four were dead, but aside from the archer who shot him, he had no idea how many were left. 

Night fell and he kept pulling himself forward. He wasn’t trying to get through to the other side of the cursed forest; he wasn’t afraid of curses. He just had to get deep enough inside that no one would follow his trail. Exhaustion and blood loss tore at his consciousness. He had mud caked up to his elbows. 

A howl, cracked and guttural, sent the night mice skittering away. Felix looked up. Glowing red eyes were the last thing he saw.

\---

He woke in a dilapidated cabin. Part of the roof was missing, but not directly overhead. He sat up, both legs working as he threw them over the side of the musty bed. Drag marks on the floor made it clear that the hole had been over the bed and then the bed moved. By what, he wasn’t sure. The tracks were large, but didn’t look like a bear. He remembered the eyes from the night before, but shook the thought away. He’d been delirious.

With silent steps, Felix explored the cabin. It was a seasonal hunting cabin fallen into disrepair. Sunlight shone in through the unshuttered, glassless windows. Tracks on the floor made it clear that something came and went through it occasionally. Something large. After a night’s sleep and with both swords still on his belt, Felix wasn’t afraid. He dug through the cabinets and rotting chests to find fabric scraps to tie around the wound on his leg. Some old bedding would do the trick. He cut off strips with his dagger and went outside into full daylight. 

After his mad crawl the night before, the sunlight felt like a warm embrace. An actually welcome one, for once. Quick scouting around the cabin found a well-pump that still worked and a cracked bucket that was whole enough for his purposes. He stripped down and washed himself in the water. It was clear and didn’t carry a smell, so he drank deeply.

He looked at the sun’s position in the sky and frowned. It wasn’t winter, but there wouldn’t be time for his clothes to dry before night fell. He bandaged his wounds and knocked off as much dirt and debris from his clothes as he could before pulling them back on. He’d stay in the cabin another night and then get back home to report the rogue knights and find another job.

Loud crunching and crashing came from the forest just as day turned to dusk. Felix held the hilt of one sword, but didn’t draw it, staring into the trees. A large, grey and black beast appeared. It gave a thundering sniff and bellowed. Magic took over its form then, sickly green and purple wisps surrounding it until it was lost from sight. When the magic dissipated, the beast was gone and in its place, a red-haired man wearing only freckles. He looked up through the fringe of his hair and smiled, as if he wasn’t naked and if he hadn’t been a demonic beast mere moments before.

“Hey, you survived after all. You reeked of blood when I put you on the bed.”

Felix blinked. That beast could have left the tracks in the cabin, but why manhandle him as a beast if he could turn into a man? “Who the hell are you?” he asked, instead of any relevant question.

The man stood up, unashamed of his nudity. “Wow, you could be a little nicer to the guy who just saved your life. How about a kiss?”

Felix drew his sword.

“Whoa, hey, okay, none of that. I’m not even snarly right now.” He glanced at the sunset and hissed. “Not much time left. Look, my name is Sylvain Jose Gautier. I’ve been cursed to turn into a beast. I turn back into a human at dusk every day, but my time’s running out. I used to stay myself all night, but now I just get a few minutes.”

Felix scoffed. “And now you’re going to ask me to lift the curse, right?”

“Um, yes? I saved your life!”

“I had a small cut on my leg.”

“Oh, come on! I’m desperate!”

“That’s a fact.”

“Hey!”

“Yeah, whatever, we’ll see if I help you. But if you bite me, it’s a no.”

Sylvain winked. “I won’t bite unless you ask, promise.”

And then he turned back into a beast.

Felix studied him. Sylvain-as-a-beast lumbered up to him and rubbed his head against Felix’s side like a cat. He smirked. “I think I like you better this way.”

Sylvain gave a mournful “hroawr.”


End file.
